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RE: [RC] senior horse feeding - Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M.I would keep the same ratio of senior and beet pulp and gradually increase the amount of both. Keep soaking it all really well so she can just slurp it down without chewing---if it's kinda soupy so she's getting that much more water along with the gruel, fine. If there's anything left over by the time the next meal comes round, then throw it out and adjust the amount accordingly. Ideally, you'd like her to have just finished the previous meal and be nosing around for her next bite when you show up with it. As far too much for her to eat in one sitting, let her have all she wants, just increase the amount gradually--maybe adding another cup or so of each of the dry weight ingredients per feeding per week or so. You can also add just a smidge of oil, but if she doesn't tolerate it well, you'll lose a lot of ground in a hurry if she comes up with diarrhea. You might consider adding a bit of freshly ground flax seed instead. Start with a 1/4 cup per feeding and increase the amount by a tablespoon or two per week until she's getting maybe 3/4-1 cup per feeding, or whatever she'll tolerate. Still a good source of extra calories and the antioxidants and omega-3s will be helpful to her as well. An extra gel cap or two of vitamin E also wouldn't go amiss---either some vitamin E directly, or 1/2-1 cup of stabilized and calcium-balanced rice bran in each meal. I wouldn't go too much higher than that, as I get worried about kidney function (notoriously poor in older horses) having to deal with too much excess calcium. Good luck, I think you're on the right track. There are a number of old girls out there on borrowed time on just this diet doing very, very well. Susan Garlinghouse, DVM, MS -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dede Johnson Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 2:28 PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] senior horse feeding Not really endurance related, but hopefully we'll all have our endurance/LD horses around in to their golden years (okay it's a stretch...) I have a 30 year old mustang mare who has been on a "mush" diet of senior feed and beet pulp for about 3 years now (and has done very well). This is due to worn down teeth and her not being able to eat any hay (She quids it all). She is in pretty good health for her age but has lost a little weight and I'm trying to figure the best way to add calories to her diet. She gets 4 pounds of senior and 2 pounds of beet pulp mixed in with over a gallon of water twice a day. For her weight (around 800 pounds) the label on the senior feed says when feeding without hay, 10.5 pounds a day is about what she should get. I could decrease the beet pulp and increase the senior feed or increase both- I'm just not sure how much would be too much for her to eat in one feeding. I have just started adding vegetable oil to her feed to see if that will help, but in the past she has not tolerated more than about a 1/2 cup at a time in with her food. The best case would be to add a third feeding to her schedule but logistically this is not possible most days, due to work. So......... any ideas for my golden girl? Dede =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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